Servings

Swedish Meatballs

2014-02-05T17:44:00.001-07:00

These are cobbled together from a bunch of places. Hope you like them.

Sweat about

1/2 cup of onion in butter

Set aside until it cools then add it to:

1/2 lb chuck
1/2 lb ground pork
3/4th cup of dry stuffing mix (or toasted bread broken up or bread crumbs)
2 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp nutmeg and allspice

Mix together with onion.

Make meatballs of about 1 oz each

Fry on all sides in the same pan you cooked the onion. Pop them in the oven when done to keep them warm.

Lower the heat in the pan. (add a little butter if you need to)

add 2 tbs flour

whisk until lightly brown. (about a min. and a half)

slowly add in 2 cups beef broth and whisk until the flour is blended in.
slowly add in 1/4 cup heavy cream until the gravy is a bit thick
add in 2 tbs of sour cream. Whisk slowly until the gravy is as thick as you like.

(add more broth to thin if needed.)

Serve over extra wide egg noodles.

....they are yummy, and my kid loves them so that's a bonus!

Food Quotes

2013-12-18T04:36:00.001-07:00

“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude.”
― Julia Child

WINTER MINESTRONE

& GARLIC BRUSCHETTA

Enjoy your food as much as this guy does.

2013-12-01T23:19:00.001-07:00

Tasting Astronaut Food: Inside NASA's Space Food Systems Laboratory

2013-10-02T09:17:00.001-06:00

Yummy?

Ham and Lentil Soup

2013-09-23T16:39:00.001-06:00

Brown 1/2 lb of diced ham in oil in a large pot. (I use a ham steak and just a bit of olive oil)

Take that out of the pot and put it aside.

Next you need these:

1 cup of diced onion
1/2 cup of diced celery
1/2 cup of diced carrot
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced.

Take all that stuff and put it in the pot. Reduce heat to medium and sweat until the onions are translucent.

Next you need these:

1/2 lb brown lentils (or which ever you like)
1/4 cup dry sherry

Deglaze the pot with the sherry. (Deglaze just means push it around the pot with the other stuff, kind of scraping as you go so the brown tasty bits get off the bottom of the pot.) When it's nearly evaporated add:

Ham
5 cups chicken or veg broth
2 cups diced tomato
2tsp thyme

Bring it all to a boil then reduce to med-low. Simmer for 30ish min. or until the lentils are tender.

When it is almost ready to serve add:

2 cups chopped fresh spinach and
Salt and pepper to taste

Finish the soup with about 1 tbs of red wine vinegar to brighten the flavors.

I like to put a little parm or goat cheese on top.

Yum.

One pot pasta premivera

2013-08-21T12:02:00.001-06:00

Sharing this from my friend Judy who swears by it.

I use 6 T (Tablespoons) of liquid (water or broth - broth is yummy!) per one weighed ounce of dry pasta (any kind) per serving. Put everything in a pot - the veggies, herbs and seasonings you want, along with the dry pasta, liquid, and a teaspoon of olive oil per serving. Bring to a boil while gently stirring (or gently tossing if spaghetti-type noodles) so they don't stick together. Change to med/low heat and simmer, uncovered while stirring occasionally until liquid is absorbed (about 8 - 10 minutes). Don't overcook! If you want any meat and/or cheese, add it in at the end (cook the meat separately).

I modified it from this recipe: http://www.marthastewart.com/978784/one-pan-pasta
I've tried it with different kinds of pasta, different veggies, different seasonings - it doesn't matter. The thing I found about the Martha Stewart recipe is that it calls for 12 oz of pasta for four servings which cooks up to a _huge_ (HUGE! 3 oz of uncooked pasta each!) portion per person. Two ounces of dry pasta cooked up with veggies was a really big serving that I could hardly finish (and it's not like I'm a dainty eater). Since then I've been doing one ounce with loads of veggies per serving and that's plenty. I figure if I'm still hungry after that I can have another helping. An 8 oz package of dry pasta will make 3 big (2 2/3 oz each) servings or 6 moderate ones (1 1/2 oz each).

Conversions:
1/4 cup = 4 T = 2 fluid oz;
1 T = 3 t = 0.5 fluid oz;
1 cup = 8 fluid oz = 1/2 pint.

Juice

2012-12-08T10:32:00.001-07:00

This morning's juice:

Carrots
Green Apple
1/2 a beet
a little ginger

Potato Famine or German Comfort casserole

2012-10-29T09:38:00.001-06:00

This is a thing of beauty for a cold night.

Peal and cut about 6 potatoes (1-2 per person)
Boil and mash with
-2 tbs cream cheese
-1/2 cup of dairy of choice (sour cream, milk, cream)
-pinch of parsley (to pretend you are having your vegetables

While the potatoes are doing their thing:

Sweat one onion diced and as much garlic as you like (I like a lot and used 4 cloves)

Cut up your Kielbasa. I used a beautiful organic, no antibiotic, uncured partially cooked Kielbasa. (Not this one, but this is close.)

Shred 2 cups of white cheddar. (Orange cheese is so wrong)

Once the potatoes are mashed add the potatoes and the onions, garlic and kielbasa, and 1 1/2 cup of cheese in a casserole dish of your choice. Mix well. Put the last of the cheese on top.

Bake for 35-40 min at 375 or until bubbly and impossible to ignore.
This would be perfect with roasted cabbage.

Eat like a German! Have a beer. Feel food love.

Here's some nice German music (Yes, angsty goes with any food.)

Menu or the Week

2012-10-14T09:57:00.001-06:00

Poverty Casserole

Chicken Breast Sandwiches with Fries and Corn

Spaghetti and Meatballs with Blanched Spinach

Savory Spaghetti Squash for the Gluten Free Cook (Recipe to Come)

Left Overs (Someone has to eat them)

Broccoli Chicken Supreme

Lemon Artichoke Chicken with Rice and Blanched Spinach

Brisket with 36 Cloves of Garlic with Potatoes and Cumin Carrots

Tortilla Soup

2012-10-01T16:32:00.002-06:00

2 chicken breasts either baked or grilled. Shred it up.

1 onion
3 cloves of garlic

Sweat in the soup pot

Add:
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of whole tomatoes

Add:
1 cup of corn ( I used frozen)
1 1/2 quarts of chicken broth.

Add chicken.

Stir in:

2 tbs chili powder
1 tbs oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
1 adobo pepper (or more for more spice)

The heat is sneaky, so be careful with your peppers.

Serve with avo, sour cream, jack cheese, and a hand full of crushed up tortilla chips.

Yum.

Beef and Barley Soup

2012-09-28T08:54:00.003-06:00

1 lb stew meat cut small
1/2 cup cooking sherry

Braise meat, then de-glaze pan with sherry. Move to soup pot.

a bit of olive oil.
1 yellow onion
3 cloves garlic
3 large carrots - diced or minced
3 stalks celery - minced

Sweat in the same pan as the meat, move to soup pot.

2 quarts beef broth
1 cup of pearl barley
1 cup copped celery

Add these things to soup pot.

1 cup of shredded cabbage

Pinches to taste:
Oregano
Rosemary
Parsley
Thyme
Salt
Pepper

Then these things too.

Cook at low to medium for 1 1/2 to 3 hours or until the meat is to your liking.

The barley sort of expands. I did find I had to add a bit of water to the left overs. This is an extremely filling soup.

No short cut crock pot stroganoff

2012-07-02T17:04:00.000-06:00

When I found this recipe for crock pot stroganoff I knew it had promise. Here is how I changed it up:

Ingredients:

2-3 cloves of garlic - chopped
1 small yellow onion - diced (or diced big if you like onion)
A little butter
A little olive oil
1 1/4 lb flank steak cubed
A little salt and pepper and flour (to dredge meat in)
1 lb baby portobello mushrooms - thickly sliced or just cut in half
cup of a water and 2 tsp bullion paste
a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
Pinch of thyme
Pinch of parsley
1/2 cup of sour cream

Sweat onion and garlic in a pat of butter until a little see through

It is super easy to put the flower and salt and pepper in a zip log bag and throw the cubed meat in there and mix. I do it in a bowl. Coat the meat lightly in olive oil. Dredge in flour.

Put the garlic and onion aside and braise the meat in a bit of olive oil until seared but not done. It will cook plenty in the crock pot. Put the meat in the pot. Braise about half way and then throw in the mushrooms. By this time there are some great pan bits, deglaze the pan with a bit more water with the bullion stock in it. Don't go nuts on the water. (Wine would be good here too.) Mushrooms are full of water.

In the crock pot combine onion, garlic, spices and hot water with the bullion paste in it.

Leave it all alone in the crock pot for 5-6 hours.
Right before serving, gently fold in 1/2 cup of sour cream.
or if it's too thin, make a roux of flour, and butter. Add before the sour cream.

Serve with wide egg noodles, some sort of green veg, and a nice roll.

Food Quotes

2012-06-30T12:42:00.000-06:00

"We have to convince the little housewife out there that the tomato that ate the family pet is not dangerous!" - Al Sklar in The Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

Food Quotes

2012-06-19T12:41:00.000-06:00

"Annie, there's a big lobster behind the refrigerator. I can't get it out. This thing's heavy. Maybe if I put a little dish of butter sauce here with a nutcracker, it will run out the other side." - Woody Allen in Annie Hall

Food Quotes

2012-06-15T12:39:00.000-06:00

"Sometimes the spaghetti likes to be alone." Stanley Tucci in Big Night

Food Quotes

2012-06-06T12:36:00.000-06:00

"What's tiramisu? Some woman is going to ask me to do it to her and I'm not going to know what it is." - Tom Hanks in Sleepless in Seattle

Juice!!!

2012-06-01T09:29:00.002-06:00

Yeah for fresh fruit!!!!

Juice:

6 strawberries

1/2 cup blueberries

2 huge hunks of fresh pineapple

1 banana

cup of orange juice

Blend with or without ice.

Yummy and plenty for 2 people. Fresh pineapple is amazing and easier to cut than one would think from it's slightly intimidating exterior.

Food Quotes

2012-05-29T12:44:00.000-06:00

"A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti." - Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs.

QOTM

2012-05-29T12:35:00.002-06:00

"Remind me to tell you about the time I looked deep into the heart of an artichoke." - Bette Davis in All About Eve

Juice!

2012-04-11T12:51:00.001-06:00

Today's Juice:

1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup black berries
1/2 cup raspberries
1 banana
Hemp protein powder

Win! Purple goodness.

Arsenic in Our Chicken?

2012-04-05T08:26:00.003-06:00

What does all this mean for consumers? The study looked only at feathers, not meat, so we don’t know exactly what chemicals reach the plate, or at what levels. The uncertainties are enormous, but I asked Nachman about the food he buys for his own family. “I’ve been studying food-animal production for some time, and the more I study, the more I’m drawn to organic,” he said. “We buy organic.”

Read more here...

Juicing: A bloody mess

2012-03-30T11:20:00.000-06:00

I am calling this one a bloody mess:

4 beets
4 carrots
1 inch of ginger

Masticate and put in the blender with

2 tangelos
4 oz of frozen pineapple
3 ice cubes
Protein powder.

Yields 32 oz of juicy wonder.

Boycot GMO Foods

2012-03-03T17:53:00.001-07:00

-Photo source unknown.(Mostly because I can't read it.)

#OccupyOurFoodSupply

Servings

Swedish Meatballs

Menu

Food Quotes

WINTER MINESTRONE & GARLIC BRUSCHETTA

Enjoy your food as much as this guy does.

Tasting Astronaut Food: Inside NASA's Space Food Systems Laboratory

Ham and Lentil Soup

One pot pasta premivera

Menu

Juice

Potato Famine or German Comfort casserole

Menu or the Week

Tortilla Soup

Beef and Barley Soup

No short cut crock pot stroganoff

Food Quotes

Food Quotes

Food Quotes

Food Quotes

Juice!!!

Food Quotes

QOTM

Juice!

Arsenic in Our Chicken?

Juicing: A bloody mess

Boycot GMO Foods

WINTER MINESTRONE

& GARLIC BRUSCHETTA